Daughter asked Twitter to help save her parents' cafe, and Twitter came through

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Jan. 18, 2018, 8:30 PM GMT / Source: TODAY Contributor

By Allison Slater Tate

Jacqueline Garza's parents, Trinidad and Ale Garza, opened La Casa Bakery & Cafe in Houston, Texas, about two years ago. The restaurant features her parents' specialties: her father's pan dulce (Mexican pastries) and their home-style Mexican food.

"Everything is made by hand, from the filling in our empanadas to the chips and salsa," she told TODAY Parents.

But recently, Jacqueline noticed her father was having trouble drawing customers to the bakery. "My dad was throwing half of the bread he was making away because it just wasn't selling," she said.

HEY YALL MY DAD HAS A LITTLE PANADERIA/ RESTAURANT. HE MAKES ALL OF THE PAN DULCE HIMSELF. HE BEEN THINKING ABOUT CLOSING BUT I CANT LET THAT HAPPEN, SPRED THE WORD 1 RT COULD BRING IN A POTENTIAL CUSTOMER! LA CASA BAKERY AND CAFE 1002 HOGAN STREET 77009!! pic.twitter.com/cc2fEDwuyB

The 18-year-old decided to take matters into her own hands — and to Twitter. "I thought, what better way to reach out to people than on Twitter, since almost everyone has a Twitter account and everything nowadays is done online?" she said.

In early December, Garza posted a plea to Twitter to help save her parents' bakery with an amateur video of her dad making the pan dulce by hand and La Casa's address. Word spread fast: Twitter responded by retweeting her request 67,000 times.

But the support was not just virtual. After Garza's tweet, the bakery saw a significant jump in customer numbers. In fact, business is now about double from what it was before Garza's tweet went viral over a month ago.

"I'm beyond grateful to have had the amount of support I received, not only from my city, but from around the world!" said Garza. "This definitely shows even though there is always so much bad news, at the end of the day, humans always come together for a greater good, and that really makes me happy."

Several people who heard about Garza's tweet decided to make La Casa a stop in Houston during their travels. "People have told me that they are on vacation but HAD to come visit my restaurant because they wanted to support us before heading home," she said.

Garza is grateful to Twitter and thrilled that she has been able to help her parents. Now that her father's pan dulce flies off the shelves, she feels she has done a greater good too. "I am very proud of exposing the world to our culture and the foods I grew up loving," she said. "It's more than just bread; it's a form of art!"